Things That Can Be Changed (5)

It really was a nightmare of a stretch of time.

"……………."

Why did I have to go through something this nightmarish?

The chirping of insects and the cries of birds in the forest brushed past my ears.

Rustle, rustle.

The branches and leaves that brushed against my body felt soft enough, but I walked on like a man under some crushing sentence, breathing hard, walking and walking again.

"…What's wrong with him?"

"Maybe he ate something bad?"

I could hear my companions murmuring with concern for me, but I just kept staring ahead and putting one foot in front of the other.

-Thiiiiiiis iiiiiiis aaaaaan ooooorder! Eeeeeeveryone reeeeeetreeeeat at oooooonce!

With the channel screen open in invisible mode so the others couldn't see it, that long, slurred, soul-crushing dogshit of a voice filled my ears, and I couldn't hide how fed up I was — I pounded my own chest.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

'Fuck… fuck…! Fuck…!!'

Star Stream, I beg you. I'll pay a million coins right now if I have to. Just please fix my channel screen that's stuck at 0.3x speed….

That 0.3x playback, the kind that dredges heat up from the deepest pit of a person's guts, felt like it was about to push me into the infamous qi deviation of the martial world.

For a Korean — a people of hurry-hurry — there aren't many tortures worse than this.

'J-just hold on a little longer…. No, I can't…. No, really just a little…. Nope, impossible….'

It was like my ego had split in two and was waging war over whether to keep watching the channel in front of me or to stop immediately.

After forcing myself through fifteen minutes of that extreme qi-deviation sensation while staring at the 0.3x channel, I managed to pick out a few facts.

First: just as Min Jiwon had explained after the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint webtoon party returned to Peace Land, not long after we left, new personnel had been dropped into the Seoul Dome.

Second: among those new arrivals, Nirvana happened to be included.

Third: thanks to that, Nirvana had hit the surrounding incarnations with Thought Infection and thrown the Seoul Dome into chaos.

And fourth: so far, Lycaon, Cha Sangkyung, Jung Heewon, Yoo Sangah, and adult Shin Yooseung hadn't been harmed yet.

Those four pieces of information were what I got.

But it was obvious at a glance that the party still in the Seoul Dome would take damage from Nirvana's hands once he became the leader of the Salvation Church.

'Ugh… I-I really can't take any more.'

Was this how people felt when they looked upon the Outer Gods of the Cthulhu Mythos?

Just watching the 0.3x screen made my stomach churn, my head pound, and every negative emotion feel like it was about to drive me insane.

In the end, before I even hit the full twenty minutes, I shut the channel screen with a face gone deathly pale.

"Hah… hah… hah…."

"J-Jinwoo? Are you really sick…?"

As I gasped for breath and broke out in a cold sweat all over, Kim Dokja touched my cheek with worried eyes.

I wanted to tell her I was fine, but my violently churning stomach wouldn't let a single word out. All I managed was a bitter smile and a nod.

'…But I have to look at the screen again a little later.'

No — I at least have to check it regularly, right? I'm so fucking screwed.

I spat curses inwardly and took slow, deep breaths. Otherwise I really was going to throw up spectacularly with the whole party stuck to my side.

Once I'd barely settled my stomach and hypnotized myself into believing I was fine, I put my feet to work and headed toward where Gong Pildu and Han Sooyoung were.

Twitch.

"Hm?"

Just then, a tree root of Peace Land seemed to twitch for an instant.

Puzzled, I stared at the root that had just moved, and soon realized something.

"Be careful! It's night!"

Asuka Ren, perched on my shoulder, cried out in a shrill voice.

Krrrrrk!

At her words I narrowed my eyes and quietly watched the rare spectacle of the forest trees writhing.

'Right. Come to think of it, the forest zones of Peace Land start turning into a maze at night, and the forest itself becomes like the stomach of a giant monster, doesn't it?'

Krrrrrk!

While I was recalling the setting from the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint webtoon, the tree roots wrapped around my ankles and then slowly closed in to crush my body.

And I—

Crunch!

—simply put strength into my feet and crushed every root trying to squeeze me as I walked right through them.

It would have been a dangerous situation for the party members who'd been miniaturized as a penalty. For me, with an overall ability score of 80, it wasn't a threat at all.

"………Huh?"

Asuka Ren, watching from my shoulder, reacted in a bewildered voice.

"Hmm~♪ Hmm-hmm~♪"

As I casually overpowered the roots clamping my wrists, coiling around my ankles, and trying to crush my torso with pure strength and walked on, the roots next stretched their claws toward the companions on my head and shoulders.

"Not happening☆"

Crunch! Snap!

Of course, with me watching like a hawk, that wasn't going to work.

I tore off the roots reaching for my companions with my bare hands, peeled the outer bark, shoved it in my mouth, and chewed as I kept walking.

"Mm~ Peace Land tree roots are pretty good."

"…W-what on earth is this?"

Asuka Ren looked back and forth between me and the Peace Land forest, watching me destroy the maze of roots and the monster-stomach thrashing that was trying to tear me apart with a completely casual expression.

"…Jinwoo-ssi really is an absurd person."

"…Yeah. Jinwoo oppa is such a weird guy."

Lee Hyunsung and Lee Jihye on my shoulders muttered something, and that muttering quickly spread to the rest of the party.

Listening to conversation that sat somewhere between insult and praise, I found the tree Gong Pildu was hiding in, gave the trunk a light knock, and opened my mouth.

"Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"

"…Crazy bastard."

A rough middle-aged voice answered from inside the tree I'd knocked on, and I smirked as I spoke.

"Yo! Uncle Pildu. Long time no see! But calling me a crazy bastard the first time we meet again is a bit much, don't you think?"

"What's too much about calling a crazy bastard a crazy bastard."

Gong Pildu slowly emerged from the gap in the tree where he'd been hiding and spoke.

"The others got miniaturized. Why are you still that size?"

Just then a woman's voice came from right in front of my nose, and I turned my gaze that way.

There stood a beautiful girl in a short dress, with sharp catlike eyes.

"Long time no see, Sooyoung. Been well?"

"Yeah. I've been fine."

That woman was Han Sooyoung, whom we'd parted from a few days ago.

Han Sooyoung stood on a tree branch, glared down at me, then crooked a finger. At her gesture I held out my palm; she muttered something about me having some sense and hopped onto my hand.

I eyed Han Sooyoung sitting on my palm, set her safely on the ground, then set down every companion who'd been clinging to me as well.

Then, so I could talk comfortably with the party, I deliberately shrank myself down to the same little-person size as them.

Now a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠little person myself, I hoisted the still-unconscious Min Jiwon onto my back. And then—

After I'd set Han Sooyoung on the ground, the little people who'd been ambushing in the forest slowly revealed themselves, eyeing me and murmuring among themselves.

"Companions of the Goddess?"

"Goddess?"

Apparently hearing the little people's conversation, Kim Dokja looked at Han Sooyoung with an expression of pure disbelief. Han Sooyoung looked at us, shrugged with an arrogant face, and continued.

"Long time no see. Kim Dokja, Park Jinwoo. Looks like you've been doing well."

It was the moment we finally reunited with the cat who'd left our side a few days ago.

Following Han Sooyoung's lead, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we walked toward the royal castle while she filled us in on everything that had happened in the meantime.

"I was walking down the road when a survivor bus suddenly cut in and hit me."

Hearing that, Kim Dokja looked at Han Sooyoung with a thoroughly unimpressed expression and pressed on.

"And then?"

"I opened my eyes and I was here."

"Does that even make sense? Then what about Gong Pildu?"

"He fell into the Han River, opened his eyes, and was here, apparently."

"…What is this, a fantasy novel?"

At Kim Dokja's reply, Han Sooyoung opened her mouth with a snide look.

"Looks like you've forgotten where we are right now."

"……But what's this about a goddess? Did you tell them to call you that?"

"Geez, I go out of my way to come rescue you and all you do is talk."

"Thanks to Jinwoo it was completely unnecessary."

"Hey! Sure, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I didn't end up helping because of Park Jinwoo. But there's still such a thing as sincerity!"

Gong Pildu, who'd been quietly listening to Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung from the side, opened his mouth.

"…You two are weirdly in sync."

While I watched Kim Dokja chatting with Gong Pildu and Han Sooyoung after their long reunion, Lee Jihye came up beside me and asked a question.

"Oppa, oppa."

"Yeah?"

"Who's that unnie? Do you know her?"

"Who? Han Sooyoung? She's a friend of mine and Dokja's. We met before, then split up because we each had stuff to do."

"A friend? Oppa's got some skills. But Dokja unnie actually had a friend?"

I had no idea how to respond to Lee Jihye's words. Especially with a certain lady far away glaring daggers at me…. More importantly, Jihye, that last part is rude to Dokja….

It was true Kim Dokja hadn't had friends, but saying it out loud is hurtful, Jihye!

Grab!

Just then, someone seized me by the collar and hauled me up.

"…Ghk?! Cough! Cough!"

Startled, I inhaled wrong and coughed as I lifted my head. There stood Kim Dokja, face flushed red, gripping my collar.

"…Shut up. I already know I don't have friends, so shut up."

"……Did I just say out loud what I was thinking?"

Nod.

Kim Dokja glared hard at me and slowly nodded.

"…D-don't worry! Dokja! You didn't have friends before, but you've made tons of them now, right?! For example, for example… Sooyoung, and Hyunsung-ssi, Heewon-ssi, Sangah-ssi, our two little ones, and Jihye too, and Uncle Pildu over there, and adult Shin Yooseung and Seolhwa-ssi, and finally even Joonghyuk!"

"…………Is that supposed to be comforting?"

"…Sorry."

At my clumsy attempt at comfort, Kim Dokja glared at me with an even more irritated look, and I did my absolute best to avoid her eyes.

Then someone came to my rescue.

"…I'm sorry to interrupt while you're speaking, but…."

Asuka Ren, the beauty with the red bob, carefully raised her hand to ask a question, and I put on a look of pure salvation.

'Nice, Asuka Ren!'

Asuka looked at Han Sooyoung and asked,

"How did you already take control of the northern region of Peace Land?"

"What's that person saying?"

Han Sooyoung looked at Kim Dokja as if she hadn't understood Asuka's question, and Kim Dokja looked back at her and slowly opened her mouth.

"She's asking how you became a goddess."

"Ahh, that?"

Han Sooyoung scrunched her face and continued.

"I already told you earlier. The place we first dropped was the north. Me and that old man fell right into the center of Verokia Castle while it was under attack."

"The castle was under attack?"

"Yeah. A few of the first-wave Japanese droppers were attacking Veronica. So I was just going to grab some items off the dead ones and bail, but those guys started saying something to us."

"And then?"

"So I got annoyed and just killed them all. If I'd known I'd shrink into a little person, I wouldn't have."

Han Sooyoung clamped her mouth shut like she was done talking, then eyed me.

"What?"

"Come to think of it, why didn't you turn into a little person from the start? According to the reports from the little people, you already massacred the Japanese guys?"

"…And when exactly did you check that?"

At Han Sooyoung's words I scratched my cheek and fell silent. But it seemed more than one or two people were curious about what she'd said.

"Come to think of it, why hasn't Park-sang transformed into a little person yet?"

"Right. You're hiding something again, aren't you?"

Michio tilted his head at me, and Kim Dokja narrowed her eyes and glared.

I put on an aggrieved expression and appealed to them.

"Hey, Dokja! The way people talk, it sounds like I'm always scamming people, causing trouble, and scheming behind the scenes like some mastermind!"

"And you're not?"

"…Of course not! Where else are you going to find someone as sincere, kind, and gentle even to his enemies as me?"

"…You treat your enemies gently?"

"…Jinwoo-ssi. That seems a bit off."

"Oppa, please spare us the lies that get exposed in two seconds."

"Crazy bastard."

"That bastard's lying again. Every time he opens his mouth it's pure bullshit, huh?"

At the cold replies from Kim Dokja, Lee Hyunsung, Lee Jihye, Gong Pildu, and Han Sooyoung, I put on a wounded expression and flinched back.

Just then, someone stepped in front of me and spread both arms toward the adults glaring at me.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"That's not true! Our oppa is a kind person!"

That someone was my daughter(?), Shin Yooseung.

"Yooseung…."

I looked at Shin Yooseung blocking the way and taking my side with moved eyes.

"Even if our oppa, the first time we met, told me he'd give me food if I showed him the way and then kidnapped me!"

Huh?

"Even if our oppa bullied and hit the adult version of me!"

Y-Yooseung?

"Even if, from what I can see, he always beats his enemies way too hard, toys with them, and provokes them until they look pitiful! He's always kind and good to us!"

"……Khk!"

Every word Shin Yooseung spoke felt like it was stabbing me in the lungs.

'I-is she taking my side, or is she roasting me…?'

Shin Yooseung had boldly stood in front of me and spread her arms to shield me from the adults mercilessly ganging up on me — but she was actually tearing me down with backhanded compliments. I stared at her with an expression that said I had no idea which way was up.

"…Trash."

"Ugh…."

At someone's muttered word I clutched the area around my heart and hung my head.

Then, still looking down, I grumbled.

"Look, adult Shin Yooseung was an enemy back then, and the proper way is to toy with enemies, provoke them, mess with their heads, and then beat them so you take them down without big losses…."

"And that same guy just made missiles and killed the enemies earlier?"

"…That was a performance for the Constellations watching us."

While we were walking and talking like that, a little person walking ahead of us called out.

"There it is!"

At the little person's cry we turned our eyes toward where they were pointing.

Beyond the plain stood a huge, majestic castle.

Except it was cracked all over and full of signs of destruction. From those traces you could roughly guess how desperate a struggle the little people of Peace Land had fought.

Apparently they'd spotted us. A large number of little people lowered the drawbridge and came running toward us with tears in their eyes.

"Goddess!"

"The Goddess has returned…!"

Watching the little people of every kind of injury come pouring out of the royal castle and racing toward where we stood, Han Sooyoung put on a bitter smile and opened her mouth.

"…We're already here. This damn Peace Land."

Hearing Han Sooyoung, Kim Dokja turned with a calm face toward Asuka Ren, who was looking around this place with an awkward expression, and spoke.

"Asuka Ren."

At Kim Dokja's words the beauty with the red bob flinched and looked at her.

"Join the Korean group. We need your help."

Watching Asuka Ren glance between Kim Dokja and the rest of us with a conflicted expression, I thought to myself.

The time was approaching when we would go meet that person — the one who would soon become both my and Kim Dokja's master.